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“A Challenge More Than a Privilege”
Prison Awareness Sunday
Today is the last Sunday of October, the month of the Rosary, the month of the Missions. We thank the Lord for the blessings He has granted us this month which is now about to end. Guided by the content of the Gospel, we focus our attention on the role of our leaders in our religious and civil communities, and our duty to pray for them. We need leaders who lead us by their example, who are deeply honest, humble, and sincere; leaders who put the interest of the people before their own.
The confrontation between Jesus and his opponents is now about to reach its climax. With scathing criticism of their shortcomings, Jesus warns his disciples not to imitate the bad example given by many scribes and Pharisees.
Today is also Prison Awareness Sunday in the Philippines. Prisoners are people we often forget and perhaps we do not want to think about. But they are still our brothers and sisters who, like everybody else, need our compassion, understanding, and prayer. In this Eucharistic celebration, let us remember them and their families, and all those who serve in the prison ministry.
A proclamation from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew (Mt 23:1-12). Glory to you O Lord.
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practise. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (ccc)
#2235. Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant.” The exercise of authority is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and its specific object. No one can command or establish what is contrary to the dignity of persons and the natural law.
True Life In God Messages
September 10, 1990
…I shall remind My shepherds of the words "leadership and service"; I will command them that they should not be like great men, making their authority felt among the poor; no, anyone who would want to be great among the poor must be their servant, and anyone who would want to be first among them must be least, just as I came on earth not to be served but to serve, and to give My Life as a ransom for many;
- and you, little child, do not fear Me;[1] I shall keep My Light inside you, forever and ever! pray for the salvation and the conversion of your era;
I bless you; bless Me and love Me;
December 25, 1990
(Christmas Day)
…pray for those who call themselves doctors of the Law, that their spirit becomes a humble and poor spirit; pray that all nations come to My Light and that the vengeance eating their hearts be ripped off so that I may wrap their hearts in My Peace; pray that east makes peace with the west and the north with the south; pray that this excessive pride and haughtiness that seized certain shepherds of Mine be replaced by humility; pray that they understand what I have meant by: “Anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant; and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave; yes, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many;”[2]
imitate Me, your Lord, and you shall live ...
April 26, 1993
(Our Blessed Mother speaks.)
beloved children, your hearts are still very far from Us[3] because you have not yet understood the meaning of Our manifestations, nor of Our words in Our Messages; you have not yet grasped the meaning of Peace, Love and Unity; if you had, your countries today would not be aflame; had you understood Our Messages you would have understood these words of Jesus and would have put them into practice: “anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave”; just as Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, learn that the kingdom of Heaven is for everybody, but not everyone sees it and not everyone enters it; do not be astonished then if you see it given to others than yourselves;
Prayer in Time of Purification
Tender Father, lash not Your wrath on this generation, lest they perish altogether;
Lash not on Your flock distress and anguish,
for the waters will run dry and nature will wither;
all will succumb at Your wrath leaving no trace behind them;
The heat of Your Breath will put aflame the earth turning it into a waste!
From the horizon a star will be seen;
The night will be ravaged and ashes will fall as snow in winter, covering Your people like ghosts;
Take Mercy on us, God, and do not assess us harshly;
Remember the hearts that rejoice in You and You in them!
Remember Your faithful and let not Your Hand fall on us with force,
But, rather in Your Mercy lift us and place Your precepts in every heart. Amen”
(28 November 2009)
Ref.: Catechism of the Catholic Church • True Life In God - www.tlig.org, Euchalette, 30 October 2011, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr A.
The Challenge to Lead by Example
Every people, nation or group needs leaders – persons who set goals, formulate and enforce just laws … people who inspire their fellow citizens with the clarity of their vision and the consistency of their actuations.
When forming His Chosen People in the desert, the Lord did not neglect this important aspect of their becoming a nation. He gave them spiritual, religious, political and military leaders in the persons of Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and their associates.
Unfortunately, Israel often lacked a righteous and inspiring leadership, not only in the political but also in the religious spheres. We have an example of this “failure in leadership” in our First Reading.
This situation of crisis in the religious leadership was quite severe even during the time of Jesus. Hence, his scathing remarks about the behavior of the scribes and the Pharisees, whose bad example the faithful should not imitate. (See Mt 23:3.)
But, in spite of this practical failure in many of the religious leaders of his time, Jesus wanted his Church to be guided by people like Peter and the rest of the Twelve. They were not perfect, nor would their successors be perfect. And yet, authority and leadership in the Church are part of God’s plan for it. Their mission is to lead the People of God with wisdom and their good example.
History documents the failures of a number of leaders of the Church, even at the highest levels. But it also documents that many did live up to the ideal and example set by Jesus, thanks to the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit. It is He who both raises great leaders in the Church, and continually challenges and empowers all those in authority to follow the example of Jesus: to lead by vision and example, in a spirit of service, with humility, consistency, and dedication even unto death.
All through the centuries Jesus remains the ideal and real leader of his people. The closer our leaders follow his example, the greater will they be in the eyes of God and their flock.
Ref.: p.4, Euchalette, 30 October 2011, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr A.
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